The Gift
by il-bambino
Summary: Set during the fourth series of UK's Being Human. Hal finds a way to channel his lust for blood and Tom is reunited with the girl he once loved. But Annie's jealous because this visitor has powers she could only dream of.
1. Blood And Spaghetti

_My first Being Human fic! Just spent the last day writing this and chapter two... and good lord am I excited! I'd forgotten what it was like to start writing a new story. I really hope you enjoy this, and if you don't, that's cool too! Thanks for reading!_

* * *

><p>Hal was setting up his dominoes. He had placed about three-quarters of them already. He was getting faster. They marched across the table, each one equally far behind the next, creating a spiral that curved around the central point quite elegantly.<p>

Breathing out slowly, Hal placed the next ivory domino and the next, leaning close over the table, positioning the dominoes gently, as though each were a delicate glass flower, so easily breakable. Soon his hand was empty, and there were no more dominoes left. Hal reached to his left and his fingers closed around the side of the green velvet-lined wooden box in which the dominoes slept. One by one, the ivory pieces fell under his deft hands, returned to their home, enveloped in soft green velvet.

Since Leo had died, Hal found himself creating his spirals more and more – four or five times a day. Tom didn't understand it at all, and Annie only a little; it angered Hal slightly. How could they not see how tortured he was? And with only a few hundred white shards of ivory keeping him from returning to the way he was…

Hal swallowed back the thoughts of Leo, and who he had been before the werewolf had found him.

_Blood everywhere and bits of flesh in his hair and the sweet warmth trickling over his arms and skin the hairs raised on the back of his neck like electricity so warm between the folds of skin of flesh ripping tearing blood blood blood –_

He swept the rest of the dominoes off the table and into the box, snapping it shut and slamming it down onto the table.

Damn Leo for leaving him, and Pearl too – they had tethered him to the salty rock of sanity, kept him from the carnage that his heart and mind lusted after, forced him into the structure of dominoes and calm and breathing. Breathing. _Breathe, Hal, _he told himself. _Leo knew you could do this on your own. You must do this. _

Slowly, his hand trembling slightly, Hal reopened the box and took out the first domino his fingers brushed. Three inlaid pips; two on one end, one on the other. Leo and Pearl on the one side, happy and together, safe beyond the door… and Hal, on his own, the lonely pip, surrounded by an expanse of white.

Annie materialised suddenly, making Hal jump slightly. His exterior stayed calm – vampires had the knack of staying silent and still as stone, no matter what state their interior was in.

'Cup of tea?' Annie asked, smiling down at him.

Hal slipped the domino into his trouser pocket and smiled back. 'Please.'

'I'm thinking… Assam!' she said as she disappeared through the swinging doors, into the kitchen. Hal followed her slowly, first making sure the box containing his dominoes was laying on a parallel to the table's edge.

'How's the baby?' he asked.

Annie filled the kettle with water and flicked the top shut, and turned to frown at Hal.

'You never talk about Eve,' she stated.

'I… don't often talk about her,' Hal admitted. 'But I assume I am not to be shot down for inquiring after her?'

The kettle rumbled quietly.

'Of course not!' Annie laughed. 'Eve's fine, just a little restless is all.'

A comfortable silence descended. The kettle's grumbling slowly increased in pace and pitch, and Hal twisted the domino between his fingers. The smooth ivory was somewhat cold to the touch – no warmth could be passed to it from Hal's hand, after all.

The kettle boiled. Annie put teabags into two mugs and filled them with steaming water. She handed one cup to Hal. He held it in his hands, feeling the scalding heat between his fingers but not really noticing it. Annie pulled a biscuit tin off the shelf above the sink and offered one to Hal. He took one and bit into it, tasting the chocolate on his tongue. Of course he gained no pleasure or stimulation from taste – other than the taste of blood, _rich warm hot blood sticking to his lips and mouth dripping from his chin_ – but the taste was there all the same. Apparently, even five centuries of iron-rich blood couldn't dissolve taste buds. The tea was different. He could feel it burning down inside him, warming the dead organs and muscle and tissue from the inside out. Hal leant back against the fridge and smiled to himself. _I am not all dead, _he thought.

Hal heard Eve crying first, his senses being much sharper than Annie's. The soft mewling of the child slowly grew until Annie finally heard it. She motioned upstairs in apology and then disappeared. Hal downed the rest of his tea and threw the biscuit into the bin, then returned to the living room, where his dominoes waited. He started his regime again: first, he opened the box and lay all the dominoes out before him, then took the first one and stood it in the centre of the table. Soon, a clear circular pattern was discernible on the tabletop.

Someone knocked on the door.

Hal stood up and went to answer it, expecting the person stood on the other side of the rippled glass to be Tom. But even as he reached for the door handle, he could see that the person outside had a build nothing like the werewolf – and by the smell, they were distinctly human.

'Hello?' he asked.

The human outside turned to him and grinned. It was a girl. She couldn't have been more than eighteen or nineteen; she had a young face, though, bowed lips, big round eyes, and a wavy, shoulder-length bob of poorly dyed pale green hair. She was incredibly thin, clothed in faded, torn, rolled-up jeans, an oversized band t-shirt and black, military style lace-up boots. She had a backpack slung over one shoulder – the zip was clearly broken, and Hal could see more jeans inside, along with a wooden box.

'Um, hi,' she replied. 'Is Tom here?'

'No.'

Hal didn't breath. He couldn't smell her. He couldn't smell her.

'Oh.' The girl looked disappointed. 'Can I come in and wait for him?'

'I don't know…' Hal said tentatively.

'Oh, that's fine! I can wait out here, if you'd rather!'

Etiquette got the better of Hal and he rushed to apologise. 'Please, come in.'

The visitor went straight down the hall and into the kitchen, dumping her backpack on the floor. Hal raised his eyebrows as he followed her.

'Mind if I have a cup of tea?' she begged, already reaching for the kettle. 'I'm gasping.'

'Help yourself,' Hal insisted. He didn't want to leave her alone – that would be rude – but her smell was beginning to creep into his mouth and he could already picture the blood spurting out of her _all over the kitchen floor pooling and spreading warm and hot and sweet so warm dripping pouring from her mouth into mine and pain in her eyes so afraid ha-ha! Stupid girl so much blood it's in you right now and wants to be out calling to me gushing out of you drenched in your blood matted in my hair – _

And he felt his fangs protrude inside his mouth, pressing against the inside of his lip and he ran. Out of the kitchen and through the front door, around the side of the house. He crouched down and pushed his palms into his eyes, feeling the pain and guilt. Leo, Leo, Leo.

Breathe in and out and in and out and in and out, imagine the curve of dominoes lined up, the calm and order, restriction, regime. Remember how far you've come. Remember Leo. _Leo, Leo, Leo. He gave everything he could and now you repay him – how? By killing everything that moves? Stop, stop! Dominoes, dominoes, order, restriction, regime. _

Order. Restriction. Regime.

'Wanna give me some help?' came a heavily accented voice. It was Tom, struggling up the path, his arms laden with shopping bags.

Hal didn't move; he stayed crouched down beside the house, his hands over his face, breathing slowly.

'Are you alright?' Tom asked.

Hal took a few moments to reply. He tried to get his voice to work again, and felt his fangs still out.

'There was a human in the house.' He barely managed to whisper it. 'A young woman. With green hair.'

'Copper?' Tom was shocked. He dropped his shopping and ran into the house, kicking open the front door, running straight through to the kitchen. 'Copper!'

He grabbed the girl by her tiny waist and swung her around.

'Tom,' she whispered, her fingers on his jawbone. Then she kissed him.

'I told you not to come here,' Tom said, almost angrily, when they broke apart.

'I had nowhere else to go.'

'What happened to Mandy?'

Copper picked up her mug of tea and swallowed the remains. 'Mandy's dead,' she said finally.

Tom gaped. 'How?'

'Werewolves; only a couple of weeks ago.'

'Werewolves don't kill their own kind,' Tom denied the accusation with fervour. 'Not outside the cages.'

'I know what I saw!' Copper insisted. 'They destroyed the entire house, looking for something. I don't know what it was. And now they're after me.'

'They're after you? Why?'

'They were talking about the Old Ones, and the war child… When they executed Mandy they…' Copper looked down at her feet and continued, quietly. 'They tortured her. They wanted to know everything about the war child, thought Mandy knew something about it. They called the child 'the eve of a new dawn'. And there was something else, as well. The Gift.'

'Gift?'

'They made it sound important. I don't know what they were talking about, I can't remember. I was hiding and saw the whole thing. Then they ransacked the house and torched the whole place. I only just escaped.'

'So why are you here?' Tom demanded. 'What do you want from me?'

Copper looked up at him defiantly and blinked, her curly green hair framing her face. 'I want to be able to protect myself.' She paused. 'I want you to turn me.'

* * *

><p>'I don't think she should stay here,' Hal said quietly.<p>

'Look, she's just a girl,' Tom interjected.

'A human girl! Do you know how hard it'll be for me? And for Hal?' Annie shrieked.

The three of them were in the attic, discussing the girl downstairs. Annie held Eve in her arms; the baby was sleeping. Hal stood tall, his back stiff. Tom was seated on a large suitcase.

'Why exactly do you want her to stay here, Tom? I don't want any hanky-panky in my house!'

'Annie!' Tom protested, insulted.

'It's too dangerous,' stated Hal, his tone implying that there would be no further discussion.

Annie narrowed her eyes at his tone of voice, but, glad that the vampire was on her side, nodded down at Tom.

'And,' she pointed out, 'it's full moon soon. Do you expect Hal to look after her while you're away?'

'Copper's fine with werewolves; she's been living with them for half her life. She used to live with about five of them, so she was always alone around the full moon. Annie, she's nineteen – old enough to look after herself if Hal doesn't want a part of it.'

'I don't think it's right…' Annie protested weakly.

'And it'll only be for a few nights, then I'll find her somewhere else to go. But right now I'm the only person she knows. How can I not help her?'

Even as Annie started to dispute his argument, Eve stirred in her arms and started to howl. It signalled the end of the discussion.

'Fine,' she hissed, over the top of the squalling baby's head. 'She can stay.'

Hal looked angry for a few moments, then he calmed. It wouldn't be that hard. A few days, at most. And he would be able to stay in his room when she was around. He'd have to take his domino table upstairs, but that wouldn't be a problem. As long as Annie didn't object. He turned to her, to ask if she minded his rearrangement of the furniture, but she nodded before he even opened his mouth.

'Of course you can move the table. Take whatever you need.'

Annie handed Eve to Tom – the child immediately ceased her crying and started to gurgle happily – and crossed her arms. 'I don't think it's fair that you've both had a look at her, and me, the _owner of this house_, hasn't even heard her voice. I'll be right back.'

She disappeared, creating a sudden change of pressure in the room that caused Hal's ears to pop.

Rematerializing in the living room, Annie looked around. Copper was nowhere to be seen. She went to the swing-door that led to the kitchen and stood on tiptoe to gaze through the circular pane of glass. Through it, she could see Copper sat on a stool beside the sink, eating baked beans out of a can, downing glass after glass of cold water.

'Do you know how rude that is?' Annie shouted as she stormed through the kitchen door.

Copper whirled round and gazed at the swinging doors. She didn't seem to see Annie – or hear her, for that matter. Then she took another swallow of water and turned back to her beans.

'You didn't even ask! You just come into my house and take my food! Ugh!'

Annie threw her arms up in defeat as the girl in front of her continued to eat the baked beans, paying no heed to the ghost that – admittedly – she couldn't see or hear. Annie dematerialised and appeared again back upstairs. 'She's eating my food!'

'It's not like you eat it,' Tom replied, rolling his eyes, as he left the attic and started to descend the stairs. 'And Hal don't eat much neither. So really, it's my food.'

'Oh right!' Annie stormed, following him. 'Because you pay for it?'

'I go out every day and buy the damn stuff.'

'Because I can't!'

They reached the bottom of the staircase. Tom went straight down the corridor to the kitchen, ignoring Annie's angry protestations.

Copper stood up and kissed him; long and hard. Annie made a disgusted noise and sat down, her arms crossed.

'I'm sorry,' Copper said bashfully, motioning to the beans by the sink. 'I haven't eaten in a few days – I've been travelling from London.'

Tom pushed the baked bean cans aside and leaned against the counter. 'What did you use – the train?'

'I hitchhiked. Weren't nobody too keen on giving me a lift either, so I walked a lot of it.'

'You walked from _London_?' Annie repeated disbelievingly. Copper didn't hear.

'You walked all the way?' Tom gaped.

'Only about forty miles of it,' Copper amended. 'I got followed for about twenty miles out of West London by Patrick's crew, then I lost them just outside of Reading. Bastards nearly caught me too.'

'What would you have done?'

'I don't know. Killed myself before they could.'

'Copper…' Tom murmured, rubbing her arm gently.

Copper shook his hand off her arm. 'I was serious, you know. About you turning me.'

'What's this?' Annie exclaimed.

'I can't, you know that!' Tom said, ignoring Annie. 'And you'd only be protected on full moon.'

'It's better than nothing, Tom. Do you know how scared I've been?'

''Course I don't.'

Copper stood up and chewed on her fingernail. 'I watched Mandy die, Tom.'

A tear slowly rolled down her cheek and dripped off her chin. Tom took her into his arms and she buried her face into his shoulder.

'Who is this Mandy?' Annie asked. When Tom didn't reply she threw her arms up and disappeared, muttering, 'What am I? Invisible?'

'It'll be OK, Copper, I'll sort it.'

'You swear?'

Tom caressed her green hair, smoothing it back from her face. 'I promise you, it will all be OK.'

* * *

><p>Hal woke up in a cold sweat. The clock beside his bed showed 4:38. He had dreamt of Leo again; the first time they had met, in fact. In his dream, he had refused Leo's offer of a peaceful life, of control and calm, and he had watched the man bleed to death in a cage as a werewolf split open his chest.<p>

Hal couldn't conceive the idea of a life without Leo's teaching. What might he be, had the dream been truth? Would he be dead? Or alongside the Old Ones, fighting against the people he now called friends.

Yes, he would be fighting, and drinking blood like it was water; he would be satiated and revived and full of warmth. But that was not the way of it. Instead, he was alone, and old and hungry. Hungry for blood, and for the cold leftovers of Copper's spaghetti Bolognese that she had made the previous night.

Hal slipped out of bed and pulled on his trousers, leaving the braces hanging loose. He picked a dirty undershirt off the floor and pulled it over his head as he left his bedroom. Climbing slowly down the stairs, so as not to wake Eve or disturb anyone else, Hal rubbed his face and ran his long fingers through sleep-mussed hair. The floor of the hallway was cold underneath his feet, and the tiled floor of the kitchen was freezing. He claimed the bowl of spaghetti from the fridge and tucked in. It was not warm, and it was not blood, but the Bolognese sauce was rich and meaty. _Better than nothing_, Hal thought to himself.

He meandered slowly around the kitchen until the front door opened, making a snapping noise that was very loud in the otherwise silent house.

Thinking the worst, Hal froze and sniffed the air. But he couldn't smell any non-human beings, save for the permanent odour of werewolf that stuck to the walls of the house.

Quietly, he put the bowl of pasta down on the sideboard and pushed through the swinging door, gazing around the living room for the source of the noise. Tom was asleep on the sofa, snoring softly, his bare chest pale and gleaming in the moonlight that filtered down through the window. A blanket was tangled around his legs, but Hal could clearly see a pair of trousers on the floor and knew the young werewolf was naked.

Still searching for the source of the noise, Hal took another few steps forwards and nearly fell over Copper's backpack. It had been abandoned in the middle of the floor; a lonely island of crumbled clothes and worn black canvas amidst a sea of beige carpet. He tried to ignore the underwear beside the sofa, but it was hard. He found himself remembering the last time _he_ had… but there was too much blood involved. He wouldn't let himself remember.

Copper was standing in the front garden, wearing nothing but Tom's dirty vest, socks and some knickers. Hal watched her through the glass for a few moments before opening the door and going outside. She was smoking a hand-rolled cigarette. There was a mug of coffee on the floor beside her feet, alongside a zippo lighter, a tobacco pouch and a sharp wooden stake.

'Hi,' she mumbled, when she noticed the vampire.

'Good morning,' Hal returned. 'Aren't you cold?'

Copper picked up her mug of coffee and gulped some down. 'Nope,' she replied, inhaling her cigarette. 'Don't really feel it.'

Hal nodded, gazing at the moon. It was nearly full. He caught a whiff of cigarette smoke mixed with the warm, wet smell of saliva. 'You know that'll kill you, don't you?' he asked, motioning towards her cigarette.

Copper snorted. 'Not before them wolves do. Or vamps, for that matter. The kind of person I am – the kind of life I live – it don't really matter which one kills you. You just got to know it'll be one of 'em.'

Hal chanced a breath. He smelled Copper's cigarette, and the sweat underneath her arms, and the dirt in her hair; he smelled her – the spicy, warm scent of _woman_ – and the deeper, richer one that belonged to all humans. And then he smelled her blood; saw it rippling beneath her cheeks as he gazed at her with such longing.

Copper blushed. He was staring at her so fervently – with such hunger in his eyes – that Copper wasn't certain if he wanted to rip out her throat, or rip off her clothes. She drew on her cigarette and breathed the smoke out through her nose, waiting for this tweed-wearing vampire to decide which way he was going to go.

'I'm… sorry,' Hal said, trying ever so hard to stop staring at the small breasts beneath the thin fabric of Tom's vest. 'Control isn't one of my strong points around humans.' He turned away, finally ripping his eyes from her. 'Especially female humans.'

Copper watched as Hal closed his eyes and breathed through his nose. She dropped her cigarette butt on the ground and stepped forwards, gently taking Hal's hand in hers. She knelt down and picked up her stake, settling the point against the vampire's chest.

'Psychologists call this flooding,' she whispered. Slowly, she raised her wrist to her mouth and bit down. Blood dripped from her lip.

Hal smelled the sweet dark liquid; saw it running over Copper's pale skin, dribbling down her chin. He could almost imagine it on his tongue. A reflex kicked in and he jerked forwards, but stopped when the stake pushed too deeply into his chest. His muscles tensed.

'Will you die?' Copper asked, as she tightened her grip on the stake. 'Or can you control it?'

They stood that way for a few minutes, close enough to feel the other's breath on their face, close enough that the hairs on the back of Copper's neck stood up.

Eventually, every muscle in Hal's body started to relax. Copper noticed this and lowered the stake. Hal glared at her, trying to force his body to ignore the blood on the ground and the blood on her face and the blood on her skin.

'See?' Copper grinned. She knelt down and started to roll another cigarette. Hal dared not move, in case his body did things he didn't want to do.

'We used to do it all the time back in London,' Copper continued, licking her cigarette and rolling it tightly. She put it in her mouth and lit it before continuing. 'Just expose a vampire to a shitload of blood – obviously while they're tied down – and sooner or later, they don't want it.'

'And what do you do then?' Hal asked stiffly.

Copper blew out a ring of smoke. It floated towards Hal and dissipated before it reached him.

'Well, once you've taken away someone's reason to be crazy, they ain't crazy no more. Most of 'em were just placid after that. Hell, a couple of them even joined us.'

'And me?'

'You sure ain't a placid one, I can tell you that. Plus, you haven't touched blood in what… fifty years?' she guessed, looking him up and down.

'You're still bleeding,' Hal said shortly.

Copper looked down at her wrist and frowned. She licked her wound, staying the flow of blood, and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

Hal flexed his fingers, and consciously relaxed all the muscles in his body. He took a step forwards.

'That was dangerous,' he hissed. 'You don't know what I might have done.'

'I'm sorry about yesterday,' Copper said slowly, ignoring him. 'I didn't realise you were so weak.'

'I am not _weak_!' Hal growled.

'Maybe not.' Copper shrugged. 'But you sure are tired.' She took one last draw on her cigarette and then picked up her things. 'Want some coffee?


	2. He Didn't Bite Her

Tom woke up to find Annie glaring down at him. He rubbed his eyes as she came into view, then, shocked, jumped backwards.

'Thomas McNair!' she hissed. 'You had _sex _on my sofa?'

Tom blushed and pulled the blanket up to cover his torso.

'Only a little bit…?' he tried.

'Oh, if I could slap you, I would be most willing!'

'Please don't!' Tom yelped, cowering back on the sofa.

'Next time,' Annie said angrily, 'You do it in your own bed!'

She turned on her heel and stormed towards the kitchen. 'And you can make your own tea from now on!' she yelled over her shoulder.

Tom swore quietly and pulled on his underpants and grey jogging bottoms before chasing after Annie to apologise.

He entered the kitchen and stopped dead. Copper was stood before the cooker, frying bacon and eggs in a pan. She wore the same jeans as she had done the day before, alongside Tom's vest, but her boots were no-where to be seen.

Annie was standing right beside her, arms crossed, glowering silently. When Tom appeared, the ghost turned to him and moaned, 'She's making breakfast. In _my_ house! I make breakfast here!'

'Please be quiet,' Hal mumbled from the kitchen table, where he sat in a puddle of sunshine, reading a newspaper.

'What was that?' Copper asked, turning around to Hal. 'Oh Tom! Want some breakfast?'

'Yeah, thanks,' Tom said. He opened the fridge and poured himself a large glass of orange juice, then sat down opposite Hal. Annie threw herself into a chair and sat there, fuming silently.

Copper grabbed two plates from the cupboard beside the sink and put three rashers of bacon and two eggs on each. She placed the plates before the vampire and werewolf and returned to the cooker to turn it off.

Suddenly the toaster finished, flinging a piece of toast onto the sideboard. Copper grabbed it and swore loudly when it burnt her fingers.

'I feel sorry for her, Tom, I really do, but she's being…'

Tom shovelled egg and bacon into his mouth, completely ignoring Annie's complaints.

'She's being you,' Hal muttered.

Annie scowled at the vampire, and disappeared.

'She'll get over it,' Tom whispered, looking over his shoulder to where Copper was buttering her toast. 'But what happened to you?'

'What do you mean?' Hal asked pleasantly, turning the page of his newspaper. 'Apparently, the American First Lady has been killed. They say the wounds on her neck showed all the signs of an animal attack.'

'Fascinating,' Tom said distractedly. 'Seriously, Hal, what's happened to you? Yesterday you nearly killed Copper, and now she's making you breakfast. Have you done your domino thing today or something?'

'Not once.'

'Then what –?'

'How's the bacon?' Copper asked, munching loudly on her toast. She ran her hand over Tom's hair, tracing the scar on his scalp with a finger.

'It's marvellous, thank you,' Hal said politely, smiling faintly. He folded up his newspaper and took a sip of coffee. He found his eyes being drawn to Copper's stomach, and the pale skin between her jeans and Tom's vest; but he couldn't quite decide why he was fascinated with her. _Do I want to kill her? _He wondered. _Or are my intentions more… human?_

Tearing his eyes away from the skin of her navel, Hal cleared away both his and Tom's empty plates, and took one final swig of his cold coffee before pouring the dregs down the sink.

'I'm going to have a shower,' he informed the pair at the table.

'Bathroom lock still faulty?' Tom asked.

'Completely buggered, it seems like. I'll put the doorstop behind the door, but I'm warning you just for good measure.'

'Thanks,' grinned Copper, nodding to him. She gulped down some coffee and pulled her tobacco pouch from her back pocket.

'It's a really bad habit, y'know,' Tom complained as Hal disappeared from the kitchen.

'Yeah, yeah.'

'Plus it makes you taste weird.'

Copper grinned at him and stuck out her tongue. Tom leant to her and wound his fingers into her hair. She kissed him gently – only a brushing of lips.

'And you say I taste weird, bacon boy!'

Tom rolled his eyes and grabbed her by the waist, pulling her onto his lap. She draped her arms over his shoulder and kissed him tenderly, again running her fingers over the scars on his scalp.

And then she pulled away, grabbed her lighter and cigarette and climbed off his lap.

'Be back in five,' she informed him, with one final kiss.

She left the kitchen through the swinging doors, watched by Tom, who leant back in his chair and grinned to himself. By God, he had missed her. And, truth be told, not _just_ her. The pleasure that a woman could give him had been all but forgotten before that night. But now he was satiated – his stomach was full, there was a pounding in his chest, and there was a tightness in his muscles that could only mean one thing: soon he would be free. One more night to go, and then he would turn, and become strength itself.

* * *

><p>Copper sat on the step beside the gate in the front garden, leant against the wall. She watched a man walk past on the opposite side of the road, following a large dog. He nodded to her and wished her a good morning. Copper was rather taken aback; no one in London would even think about doing something so neighbourly. Especially when you lived in a house with five werewolves – one gay, two male and middle aged, a child only about twelve and a twenty-four year old black woman. They made an odd mix, with Copper the only human in the house. Sometimes Mandy's brother would come and stay, but never for long, and never around the full moon, when Copper was alone in the house. He was so lovely, Mandy's brother. Poor Luke. His sister a werewolf, his parents adamant that she was the devil incarnate – he was trapped between the only people he loved. Copper had been there to comfort him, but what could a teenager do when faced with that kind of problem? Of course, Copper had experience with dysfunctional families, but she didn't have parents, or a sister, and no idea what it must be like to be a man, so she couldn't help in the slightest. Except for making him breakfast, and spaghetti, and any other type of food that he wanted. She helped Mandy, though – cleaning her cuts after a full moon, and taking care of little Ella for her. <em>I did help. I wasn't a nuisance. They would've thrown me out if I was.<em>

Copper had to light her cigarette again – she'd been in another world, and it'd gone out. She drew on it, breathing deeply, and looked up to the first floor window that she could see. The bathroom window. Just beyond that – a single sheet of glass and a couple of square metres of air – the vampire waited for her. Copper was proud of what she'd done last night – exposing him to her blood. She had known even before she started that he could control himself, but it was still a risk. Especially because he was so tired. _Five hundred years of this…_ Copper thought, breathing smoke out of her nose. _He must be so tired. _

She stubbed out her cigarette and sucked on her teeth. She was so dirty. She hadn't showered for a good week, and the walk from London hadn't helped her cleanliness. And her teeth… Copper ran her tongue over her teeth again and spat onto the ground. _Where did I put my toothbrush?_ She wondered.

She went back inside, shivering a little, only to find her backpack missing from the living room. Tom had cleared up in the kitchen – it was suddenly spotless, the cooker white and shining, the washing up drying on a rack beside the sink.

'Tom?' Copper called up the stairs, answered by a muffled reply of 'I'm up here!'

She ascended the stairs two at a time, using the banister to propel herself up. Reaching the landing, she heard water rushing behind the door to her right. Bathroom. All the other doors had small golden numbers on them – from two to four. The door that boasted the number three was slightly open – behind it, Tom was getting changed.

Copper pushed open the door and leant against the frame, watching as Tom pulled on a pair of sand-coloured shorts and a thin Henley-style t-shirt.

'You got my backpack?' she questioned.

'Yeah, it's over there.' Tom motioned to the patterned armchair that stood next to the window. Copper's backpack was on the floor beside it, her underwear and t-shirt spilling out of the broken zip. She dug inside, pulling out socks, a comb, a half-open wallet and a couple of pencils before she finally found her toothbrush. She threw the toothbrush and comb onto the bed and wriggled out of her jeans. Replacing her dirty underwear with a cleaner pair, Copper pulled her jeans back on and turned straight into Tom's embrace. He kissed her neck and slipped his hand into her waistband, then picked her up and dropped her onto the bed. She fell with a squeal of laughter onto the mattress, and breathed heavily as Tom straddled her and kissed her hard. Raking her hands over his stomach, Copper smiled and sucked on his lower lip.

'I've got to go to work,' Tom said, as Copper lay back on the pillow. 'Come see me if you like.'

'Nah, I think I'll be fine here,' she teased. Tom kissed her once more and rolled off the bed. Copper watched as he pulled his coat off the hanger on the back of the door and shrug into it. He checked his pocket for keys, winked at Copper from across the room, and disappeared.

She lay on the bed for a few more moments as the house quietened around her. The rushing water of the shower had stopped – Hal must be out, then. Sticking her toothbrush and comb into a jeans pocket, Copper straightened her clothes and crossed the hallway to the bathroom. The door was ajar. She pushed through it and shut it behind her. Putting her toothbrush and comb beside the sink and gazing into the mirror, she screwed up her face in response to how tired she looked. The mirror was slightly steamed over, so she reached out and rubbed it clean, then turned the cold tap on and splashed some water on her face.

'Yuk,' Copper said quietly, viewing her reflection again.

Suddenly there was a presence behind her. She spun and Hal was there, his eyes wide open, nostrils flared. He took a step towards her, his hair dripping warm water. Copper backed up as far as she could, until her spine hit the sink. Hal stepped towards her again, and fixed his eyes on hers. Dark eyes, the iris a circle of brown. His face, newly shaven, was smooth but slightly raw, and Copper could smell a cleanliness about him that could only have come from some sort of shampoo.

He was half an inch away from her when his eyes dropped to her neck. His hand found her throat and pushed her backwards slightly, so that her body curved away from him and their hips touched. Hal leant over her collarbone and inhaled, breathing in her aroma, letting it warm in from the inside out. A droplet of water fell from his hair onto her skin. Hal brushed it away and pushed Tom's vest off her shoulder in one hand movement. He leaned closer, and rubbed his lips against her clavicle, shuddering as he breathed in her balmy skin's scent.  
>Copper gasped as she felt his soft tongue gently taste her, and then his mouth was moving upwards, over her throat, his lips settling above the pulsating beat flowing through the artery on the side of her neck. He sucked air in through his teeth, creating a thin whistle, and Copper could feel his arousal – two thin pinpricks traced across her neck. And there was half a second when the pressure from his fangs increased, and then Hal was gone. The door swung on its hinges and Copper pushed herself from the sink, gasping air into her lungs so fast she thought she might be hyperventilating. Adrenaline coursed through her veins, fast and hot. Copper caught sight of her face in the mirror – she was blushing profusely, her lips shaking and eyelashes trembling.<p>

It was only after she had finished in the bathroom and had locked herself into Tom's room that she realised something: he hadn't bitten her.

* * *

><p>Annie was feeding Eve when Tom returned from work in the late afternoon. He shouted up the stairs to announce his return and informed them, in a voice so loud it could have raised a corpse, that he was making tea if anyone wanted some. Annie heard one door open downstairs and assumed it was Copper going down. A few moments later, another door opened and closed, and someone else descended the ground-floor staircase.<p>

'It's just you and me, now, Eve,' Annie whispered to George's daughter. 'We're all that's left of before.'

It was true – Mitchell was dead, Nina too; and now George was gone. Truly, Annie was the only one left, but Eve was so much a part of George and Nina – or so Annie believed – that she wasn't alone. George and Nina would always be there if Eve was.

Annie gazed down at the War Child and saw the blissful happiness that only a child could ever possess. But, even as she watched, Eve's face crumbled and she yawned loudly.

'To bed with thee!' Annie cried, carrying Eve to her cot and laying her down beside the small stuffed toys that also inhabited the child's sleeping place. Eve's eyes flickered shut and she yawned again, rubbed her eyes… and was asleep.

Annie looked wistfully down on the sleeping child. She hadn't slept in nearly five years. Five years – was that all it was since she had died? It seemed like an eternity to her, but when given a number – five – it was barely anything.

Annie reached down and smoothed the small amount of downy hair that Eve possessed away from her face, back over her cranium, and teleported downstairs.

The kitchen was full of noise – the kettle was boiling, Hal was serving chocolate cake onto three plates, and Copper was rummaging through the fridge.

'I don't want any, thank you,' Annie said, before Tom could ask. She sat down on a chair that wasn't set with a cake fork and rearranged the flowers in the vase at the centre of the table.

'Tea's up!' Tom said loudly, carrying three cups of tea (which smelled like English Breakfast to Annie) to the table. Copper slipped into her chair, crossed her legs like a Buddhist and watched as Hal repositioned his fork slightly, so that it was at the correct angle to the table's edge before sitting down himself.

'Thank you,' Copper grinned, accepting the largest cup of tea from Tom. She pushed her hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear before taking a sip of scalding tea, swearing in response to the temperature, and putting her mug firmly back down on the table. Annie sighed as Copper let loose another curse.

Hal's eyes were fixed solidly on the slice of cake before him, but he could see Copper's fingers tapping the side of her mug, and had to force his eyes back to his plate when she licked a small piece of chocolate off her finger.

He could hear her heart beating, feel the pulsating blood in her veins; and the memory of how her skin tasted beneath his lips made him want to throw the cake away and only ever taste her again…

'Have you thought about what I asked?' Copper questioned suddenly.

'Say no, Tom,' Annie urged him. 'She's a stupid girl and she doesn't know what she's getting herself into.'

'Copper, not now, yeah?' Tom said, his eyes flicking awkwardly towards Hal.

'Yeah, sure.' Copper smiled and turned back to her cake. 'When can I meet her?'

'Meet who?' Tom asked, gulping down his tea.

'The War Child.'

Hal and Tom shared a look.

'How did you know she was here?' Hal asked slowly.

Copper sent him an unfathomable look across the table. 'Everyone knows that you're harbouring the War Child. Mandy knew as well – but she didn't tell Patrick, even when they set her alight.' Copper sent an accusatory look towards Tom. 'I watched it happen, Tom. Watched her die protecting _your_ secret. You owe her this much.'

Annie stood up, incensed.

'We don't have to do _anything _you tell us to, you silly little girl. Eve is under _my _protection, and things are going to stay that way for a bloody long time, I'll have you know. You don't have any rights when it comes to that baby, Copper! Ha! Copper… what sort of a name is that?'

Copper had had enough. She slammed her fist on the table and turned to Annie, just as irate as the ghost was.

'It's the name I chose, you arrogant cow, and if you've got a problem with that…' she tailed off. The kitchen was silent.

'You can see me?' Annie exclaimed, confused.

'Hang about…' Tom objected. 'How can you see her?'

'You're not a supernatural,' said Hal, pointing out the obvious. 'You are most decidedly human. How _can _you see Annie?'

Copper put her face in her hands. 'Shit,' she mumbled. 'Shit, shit, shit.'

'Copper?'

'I've been through a door,' Copper explained.

'Whose?' Annie demanded.

'My own.'

'What was that?' Hal invited a reconfirmation, stunned by what he had just heard.

'I went through my own door. I was only there for a moment – I didn't want to leave. So I came back through, and I saw myself, just lying there, and I sort of… climbed back in.'

'Why didn't you tell me this?' Tom asked. He gripped Copper's elbow, his eyes wide.

'Mandy told me not to let no-one know, said I was one of a kind, that there weren't no-one else like me.'

'Why? What gifts do you possess?' Hal leaned forwards, resting his elbows on the table.

'I can pass through any door…'

Annie gasped.

'And I can come back,' Copper continued 'At will.'

'That's impossible!' Annie said, her mouth wide. 'You'd die.'

'Mandy said that I was a ghost inside a human body.'

Tom picked up his mug of tea and took a large sip. Hal copied him.

'Wait… so does that mean… do you think you're The Gift?' Tom wondered aloud, leaning back in his chair.

'What gift?' Annie demanded. 'A gift for who?'

Copper stood up, crossed the kitchen to the sink, filled a glass with water and downed it. Three sets of eyes followed her.

'I think so.'

Hal rocked his chair on two legs, his eyes closed, deep in thought. Suddenly he snapped his fingers, and pointed at Annie. 'Get the map,' he ordered.

'I've got UK, Europe, Worldwide or Paris.'

'No, the parchment – the parchment you were given!'

'Yeah, of course, the parchment!'

Annie disappeared through the swinging doors and came back a moment later holding two paper-thin sheets of pale parchment.

'Is that _skin_?' Copper moaned in disgust.

Hal leant over the parchments, ignoring the larger symbols, scouring it for…

'There!' he hissed. He jabbed his finger down on the top right hand corner, where a human-shaped icon was etched into the skin. Inside the body, a star was engraved, just above where the heart should be.

'What does it mean?' Tom asked, leaning towards the parchment to get a better look.

'It's me,' Copper realised, pushing her hair out of her eyes, staring down at the star-shaped heart. 'That's me.'

'Yes, exactly,' Hal agreed. 'This star means ghost, or spirit, and the human is – obviously – a human. But together, and in alignment with the sun of giving, the symbol means 'gift'.'

'Slow down!' Annie pleaded. 'OK. The person on the parchment is a gift, and you are the person.' She pointed at Copper.

'Yes, Annie. I'm the person.' Copper turned back to Hal. 'Does that mean I'm involved?' Copper was disbelieving.

'You could be of utmost importance to Eve's quest – removing the plague of vampires from the earth.'


End file.
